Strumming On My Heartstrings
by EX3451
Summary: Written based on head canon #1321 on teentitansheadcanons on Tumblr, Beast Boy is learning how to play the guitar. The only thing is, he won't tell the other Titans who his teacher is. When Raven decides to follow him to his lesson, she learns a lot more than what she bargained for. BBRae One-shot.


Alright, so far my creative fire that is normally burning in the back of my brain has just...died. I still feel like writing, but I just can't think of anything to write about. So, this will be a story with a 'prompt'. That 'prompt' comes from teentitansheadcanons on Tumblr. The 'prompt' is: "Punk Rocket teaches Beast Boy how to play the guitar. BB visits him in prison twice a week." There it is, word for word.

So here, have this one-shot. I hope this helps me find the motivation to update my other stories.

**Disclaimer: I can't even think of a good disclaimer, so I'll just say that I lay no claim to Teen Titans or the song used in this fic. What, you want something funny? Too bad.**

**XxX**

"Alright guys, I'm going to head out now!"

The other Titans all turned to see Beast Boy, guitar in hand, standing near the door.

"Yo', BB! You've been disappearing every now and again for months now! Where have you been goin'?" Cyborg inquired, raising an eyebrow at the acoustic instrument hanging from around the younger boy's neck.

"Uh," Beast Boy said, turning away. "I've been getting lessons. You know that, Cy."

He said this quietly, hoping that the other Titans, one in particular, hadn't heard him. He wasn't that lucky.

"Friend! You are learning to play an instrument?" Starfire asked, her mustard bottle clenched tightly in her hand as her eyes sparkled.

"You're getting lessons? Who's teaching you?" Robin asked, one eyebrow raised in moderate interest.

"A friend." Beast Boy replied, still avoiding eye contact.

"Why are you learning how to play a guitar?" Raven asked over the top of her book. Beast Boy gulped silently, getting ready to answer. Cyborg beat him to it.

"He's probably just secretly going to see a _girlfriend_." Cyborg said, wiggling his eyebrows as the colour of Beast Boy's cheeks changed from a light green to a light red.

"Dude, shut it." Beast Boy hissed at him, glaring in his direction.

"Why?" Cyborg asked childishly, crossing his arms. His eyes suddenly lit up as he added, "unless I'm right!"

Raven felt a pang of jealousy stab at her, which she quickly swept away. That had been happening more and more lately, whenever someone mentioned another girl and Beast Boy. Sending a particularly venomous look at Cyborg, Raven diverted her attention back to her book. Noticing her glare, Cyborg turned around and looked at her.

"Now what's that look for, Rae?" He asked, a large grin spreading across his face. Raven was glad her hood was up; she had flushed slightly from embarassment at being caught. Unfortunately for Cyborg, she hadn't missed the implications.

"Cyborg, one more word and I will put you in the scrap heap." Raven said, getting up and walking towards the door. "I'm going to meditate."

The door swished shut behind her, leaving the room in silence. Beast Boy picked up his guitar, shrugged and followed her out. The rooms three occupants stared at the door for a few seconds, before they resumed their normal activities. Cyborg eventually decided to break the silence.

"Why do you guys think he's learning?"

"Raven." Robin and Starfire replied in unison, not even looking up from whatever they were doing.

Cyborg chuckled slightly. "Took the words right out of my mouth."

**XxX**

The people of Jump City didn't even bat an eye as the green harpy eagle flew over them, carrying a guitar. It was just one of their resident superheroes, as an animal, holding an instrument. What was so odd about that? What they didn't see, however, was the gothic girl following after it, sticking to the shadows near the ground.

Raven had indeed gone to the roof to meditate, but upon seeing Beast Boy taking off the curiosity had gotten the better of her. After all, Beast Boy had been vanishing for hours on end for close to a quarter of a year, why shouldn't she get to see where he was going? At least, that's what she had been telling herself the entire journey. It totally wasn't because she wanted to make sure that he wasn't seeing anyone. Not at all. Even so, at the moment she was starting to think that Cyborg was right. Beast Boy was heading in the direction that was opposite every single music school or tutor that she knew of.

_'Just who is this friend?' _She mused to herself, staring up at the green bird. Beast Boy suddenly stopped, gave a shrill shriek and dive-bombed straight down. Now on high alert, Raven followed his progress, and felt her eyes involuntarily widen.

"Jump City prison...?" She mumbled to herself. That didn't make sense. Was there a breakout and she just didn't realise that her communicator was going off? No, there wasn't any commotion. Noticing Beast Boy walking through the front door, Raven followed after him, melting into the wall.

"Ah!" Inside, an elderly guard stood, smiling down at the green boy who had just walked in. "Mr. Beast Boy. You're right on time!"

"Hey Flint." Beast Boy said, waving at the guard. "Is he all ready?"

"Yes, yes. He's in the visitor room. Official visiting hours start in three hours, so you have that long."

"Thanks Flint."

Beast Boy smile up at the man, before walking past him and through the door on the far end of the room. Raven, still inside the wall, followed him, making sure to stay completely out of sight.

"Yo! Green!"

The voice rang through the air, almost startling Raven. It sounded familiar, but not overly so. There was a heavy accent, but that was about it.

"Hey, Punk." Beast Boy greeted.

"'Bout time you got 'ere, I've been waitin'!" The now named 'Punk' said, sounding slightly annoyed.

Raven was still inside the wall, listening in to their conversation. _'I think I know who it is, but I need to see their face.' S_he thought. Praying that there would be at least some shadows to conceal her sudden appearance, Raven took a breath and poked her head out of a small portal.

She was in luck, she had come out in a corner, easily dark enough for nobody to see her with just a passing glance. Acting quickly, she scanned the room. There was Beast Boy, there was a few tables, there was Punk Rocket, there was a- wait Punk Rocket?

Raven almost gasped, but pulled her head back through the portal just in time. So Punk Rocket was Beast Boy's music teacher? _'Well, that makes sense I guess.' _She thought, turning around to faze back outside and leave. She stopped, however, when she heard voices.

"Dude." Beast Boy said, amused. "You've been waiting for me? Where else exactly would you be if I wasn't here?"

"Uh...oh shut it. So, how ya been?"

"Pretty good, ya know. Had to bust Control Freak the other day. That was annoying."

"Again? Ah, I seriously don't know how 'e manages to squeeze his fat ass through those bars so many times."

Raven snorted, silent to the two that she was listening in on.

"Yeah. I don't get why you haven't tried to bust out though. You've been here for months."

"Nah, mate. I like it here."

"You like it here? Dude, you're in prison. How could you like it here?"

"Well, it's free plus the food is great."

"The food is crap! I ate here the second lesson I had with you and I was still puking a week later!"

"Your stomach is just weak, mate."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. I don't need to be here listening to you."

"You came to me, mate. As I remember you wanted to learn how to play that guitar there to impress your bird, and you didn't want it to be public news."

Raven felt her stomach plunge. So there was another girl. She'd been foolish to hope. After the way she constantly treated him and ignored him, she still wanted more from him. Before she could fall too far into depression, Punk spoke again.

"What was 'er name? She's the one with the purple 'air, right?"

"Yeah, Raven."

Raven almost fell out of the wall. _'I have purple hair. My name is Raven. I'm a 'she'. Did he just...?'_

Before Raven could finish her thought, Punk spoke.

"Alright mate, let's start. Not that you're not positively _lovely_ to be around." He sounded very sarcastic.

"Whatever. So where are we up to?"

Raven had heard enough. She really needed to get her meditation done and shut her emoticlones up anyway. As quickly as she could, she stepped out of the wall on the opposite side of where the conversation was happening, paused for a second to fix her cloak, then took off, heading straight for the tower.

**XxX**

The tower was eerily quiet. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg had all gone out to get pizza, even though Beast Boy didn't know that. He was sitting on the couch, mindlessly strumming on the guitar in his lap. He was concentrating so hard on the music that he didn't hear the door swish open, nor hear Raven quietly enter.

Raven walked into the nearly deserted room, intending on speaking to Beast Boy. Seeing him on the couch, she started to walk over, only to stop dead in her tracks when he started playing the notes louder.

Raven could instantly recognise the tune, and her lips slightly curled at the edges. Her small smile widened by a tiny margin when Beast Boy started singing.

_"I thought love was only true in fairy tales  
Meant for someone else but not for me."_

Raven raised an eyebrow. He wasn't that bad. Maybe he was just trying too hard back in Tokyo.

_"Love was out to get me  
That's the way it seemed.  
Disappointment haunted all my dreams."_

The notes weren't perfect, and Raven had no doubt it would sound better if all the proper instruments had been used, but she didn't care.

_"Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer  
Not a trace of doubt in my mind.  
I'm in love, I'm a believer!  
I couldn't leave her if I tried."_

The music felt as though it was pulling her in. Unable to resist, Raven started walking slowly to the couch.

_"I thought love was more or less a given thing,  
Seems the more I gave the less I got."_

Now right beside the couch, Raven froze. Should she sit? Should she leave? Should she just listen to the song out of sight?

_"What's the use in tryin'?  
All you get is pain.  
When I needed sunshine I got rain."_

Raven winced slightly. She couldn't help but think those lyrics fit a bit too perfectly for Beast Boy.

_"Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer  
Not a trace of doubt in my mind."_

Slowly, Raven began to sit on the couch, opposite end to Beast Boy. He still seemed to not have noticed the fact that he wasn't alone.

_"I'm in love, I'm a believer!  
I couldn't leave her if I tried."_

Beast Boy stopped playing, sliding the strap off his neck and laying the instrument down beside him. He suddenly froze, then turned to where Raven was sitting.

Raven saw Beast Boy stiffen, before he looked directly at her. This was her chance. Slowly, she raised both hands, clapping lightly. Beast Boy relaxed slightly, though he was still regarding Raven with what seemed to be extreme caution and even a tiny bit of mortification.

"You...heard all of it?" Beast Boy asked, his voice unnaturally timid.

"Yes." Raven nodded. "It was...good."

"Oh." Beast Boy said, his face flushing slightly. "That's... uh... that's the first time I've played a...full song to anyone before."

"Well, that wasn't the entire song and you didn't exactly know I was here." Raven pointed out, instantly regretting it when she saw his ears droop slightly. "But." She continued. "It was still good."

Unbeknown to either of them, they had slowly been moving along the couch, to the point where they were only separated by a few feet. Beast Boy seemed to notice the sudden close proximity first, his blush getting darker.

"You know..." He started, desperate to distract himself. "I was only really learning so I could play for you."

Beast Boy's eyes widened as his own words registered in his brain, sweat forming on his forehead. "I mean-"

"I know what you meant." Raven said, still getting closer to Beast Boy, who had stopped moving completely. "And I think it was really... sweet."

Beast Boy's eyes widened slightly, before his mouth split into a grin and he started laughing. "Oh, oh. You had me for a second there, Rae. You thinking I'm sweet. That's a good one."

Raven would have rolled her eyes, except for the fact that Beast Boy's face was now only about eight inches from her own. Smirking mischievously as an idea popped into her head, Raven scooted forward a tiny bit more. "Do I have to do everything?" She asked him, eyebrow raised as she reached forward.

Before Beast Boy could even say "huh," Raven had grabbed him by the front of the shirt and yanked him forward. She stopped pulling when his eyes were mere centimeters away from hers, their noses touching. Beast Boy looked bewildered for a second, his eyes darting around the room before finally settling on Raven's eyes. A large smile formed on his lips.

"Have I died and gone to heaven?" He asked, slowly wrapping his arms around Raven's waist.

"Not unless I'm there with you." Raven replied, her voice a complete monotone, even though her eyes were dancing as she wrapped her arms around Beast Boy's shoulders. Tilting their heads slightly to the right, they slowly started leaning towards one another. Three centimeters away. Two centimeters away. One centimeter away. Half a centimeter...

The door swished open, forcing Raven and Beast Boy to jump apart from one another. Cyborg stood in the doorway, mouth gaping as he replayed exactly what his mechanical eye had seen as soon as the door was open just the tiniest bit.

Beast Boy and Raven looked on anxiously, having once again moved to opposite ends on the couch. Cyborg looked at both of them, before a wide grin spread across his face.

"I KNEW IT!" He shouted, doing a small victory dance. "I so knew it! Ever since the team was made. Robin was always saying "Cyborg, chu crazy." But look who's the crazy one now!"

Raven disappeared in a dark aura, leaving Beast Boy watching nervously as Cyborg started laughing maniacally. The half robot had bent over so far that his head was almost touching the ground. After about five seconds, he suddenly snapped straight up and cleared his throat.

"OK, you kids have fun!" He called as he skipped back out the door, humming.

Beast Boy sat completely still on the couch, staring at the door with a mixture of anger and concern. Not an easy feat.

"What the..." He mumbled to himself, before looking around the now empty room. Raven was nowhere to be found. Before he could sigh in annoyance and get up, however, a portal opened up beneath him, sucking him and his instrument into the familiar blackness.

_'Damn you, Cyborg.' _Beast Boy thought as his feet left the ground. _'Damn you.'_

**XxX**

And done. This one took a bit to write, I'm just not feeling up to it this week at all. I seriously need to update my other stories. But oh well, I'll get to it when I can.

Would this be considered a songfic? I don't know or really care, to be honest. I'm just going to leave it at one-shot.

I'm sorry if it sucks at all, but this was just to pass the time so I didn't put as much effort into it as I normally do. I'm probably going to look back at this and think 'Ugh, I wrote that?' But who knows.

Leave a review! They're like a thing that does stuff when it can be potato.

Peace!

_**X**_


End file.
